Nauvoo Temple - Nauvoo, IL - Exact Replicas on Waymarking.com

"The Nauvoo Illinois Temple stands on a high bluff overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River. The majestic building is a faithful reproduction of the original Nauvoo Temple built by Mormon settlers in the 1840s and destroyed by arson fire in 1848 and tornado-force winds in 1850." SOURCE

"The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons. The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States, in 1836. When the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois, in the winter of 1846, the church attempted to sell the building, finally succeeding in 1848.

In 1937, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reacquired the lot on which the original temple had stood. The Church built a temple on the original site whose exterior is a replica of the first temple, but whose interior is laid out like a modern Latter-day Saint temple. On 27 June 2002, a date that coincided with the 158th anniversary of the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the temple was dedicated as the Nauvoo Illinois Temple." SOURCE

"Temple History
Thousands toured the Nauvoo Illinois Temple each day of its lengthy open house, all highly impressed by the temple's beauty—a crowning jewel of the Midwest.

The original baptismal font, supported by 12 carved limestone oxen, was duplicated as nearly as possible with the addition of a fiberglass lining to prevent deterioration. The floor of the Baptistry, the largest of any temple in the Church, is done in red brick tile (as in the original temple). A dome and chandelier are featured in the ceiling and art glass window on the east end. Intricate moldings are attached along the ceiling.

The Allyn Historic Sash Company in Nauvoo had charge over the different-sized arched windows and round windows near the temple's roof line that include framework for six-pointed stars. Red, white, and blue glass was used to replicate the originals. All but 11 of the total 138 installed windows were constructed by the "Allyn House." The limestone used for the original temple was quarried from a site just west of the temple. Much of that quarry, however, was submerged by rising water behind the Keokuk Dam in 1912. Therefore, Russellville, Alabama, subsidiary of Minnesota's Vetter Stone Company, was chosen by the Church to provide stone for the temple. Church officials say the quarry was selected because it will provide stone that is a close match to the limestone originally used.

The floors are hardwood with rugs, runners, and furnishings typical of the time. The first floor Assembly Room, featuring ten chandeliers, was duplicated on a smaller scale allowing enough area for planned administrative offices. The second floor has dressing rooms, and the upper floors house the six sealing rooms and endowment rooms, which were arranged in progressive style to include a Creation Room, Garden Room, World Room, Terrestrial Room, and Celestial Room. The use of ordinance room murals was reintroduced for the first time since the Los Angeles California Temple (1956).

A little more than 153 years ago, Latter-day Saints had to abandon the temple they had recently dedicated. "Soon," President Hinckley said, "there will grace this site a magnificent structure, a re-creation of that which existed here and served our people so briefly during that great epic [Nauvoo] period of the history of the Church." Looking back on that era of Church history, not long after the Prophet was martyred, President Hinckley said, "I can just see the people in 1846, the wagons that bitter, bitter cold day going down Parleys Street to the water's edge, getting on a barge, moving across the [Mississippi River] up on to the higher ground and looking back on this sacred structure which they had labored so hard to build and realized that never in this life would they see it again. It is difficult to imagine their emotions."

President Hinckley called the time of the groundbreaking a "happy day" in Nauvoo "where it all really began." He noted that although the Kirtland Temple was the first built in this dispensation, "there was no ordinance work in that temple," as there was during a brief period in the Nauvoo Temple.

Referring to the Nauvoo Temple as beautiful and large, he shared an experience from an earlier visit when Elder Hugh W. Pinnock of the Seventy and North America Central Area president used weather balloons on the temple lot to outline the area and height of the sacred building. "I was amazed at the height of it," President Hinckley said. "I knew the dimensions in feet, but I'd never envisioned that height." The temple will be built again to that height and with the same exterior look as the original, he said, funded largely by contributions "from those who love the Lord and love this work."

Noting some changes in construction from the original, he said it will be built of reinforced concrete faced with the same kind of stone as the original. "It will be stronger and will last a very long time," he said. "I hope to live long enough to participate in the dedication of this wonderful building which means so very much in the history of this Church, in the history of my family, in the history of your families, so very, very many of you who are gathered here today." The idea of rebuilding the temple is not a new one. President Hinckley said that his father, while president of the mission that included Nauvoo in 1939, suggested to the First Presidency that the Nauvoo Temple be rebuilt. But the idea wasn't accepted at that time when the country was just coming out of the Depression and the Church didn't have a lot of money. His father was disappointed at that time, President Hinckley said, adding, "But I count it something of a strange and wonderful coincidence that I've had a part in the determination of rebuilding this temple."

President Hinckley continued his remarks: "This will be the House of the Lord. It will be dedicated as His Holy House. It will be reserved and set aside for the accomplishment of His divine and eternal purposes. It will occupy a special place in the belief and testimony and the conviction of this people. It will have great historic significance. It will be a thing of beauty and, I hope, a joy forever."" SOURCE